Knicks at Wizards
THE STORY: An unlikely star was born at Madison Square Garden during the past few days. Jeremy Lin has come out of oblivion to lead the New York Knicks to back-to-back victories with a pair of scintillating performances, but the feel-good vibes produced by the undrafted point guard out of Harvard were dimmed by unsettling news involving the team's two superstar players. Forward Carmelo Anthony, New York’s leading scorer, suffered a strained groin early in Monday's home victory over the Utah Jazz and is expected to be sidelined for one to two weeks. In addition, the brother of forward Amar'e Stoudemire was killed in a car crash early Monday in Florida. Stoudemire left the team Monday to be with his family and is not expected back before Wednesday night's road game against the Washington Wizards. Washington snapped a four-game skid by holding off the Toronto Raptors in overtime Monday night.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG, CSW, NBA TV
ABOUT THE KNICKS (10-15): “Lin-sanity” has taken over Manhattan. Lin came off the bench to score a career-high 25 points in Saturday’s win over New Jersey, and provided the perfect Broadway encore with 28 points and a career-high eight assists Saturday in his first career start. Lin’s emergence comes at an opportune time. PG Baron Davis, who has been rehabbing a bulging disk, had to stop his workouts due to an elbow infection and likely will not be back before the All-Star break.
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (5-20): Washington has also been receiving a spark at both ends of the court from an unlikely source. Trevor Booker, a first-round pick in 2010, scored a season-high 19 points in the win over Toronto. He also had three steals, three blocks, and four rebounds. It was the fourth time in six games that Booker has scored in double figures. He is shooting a sizzling 67 percent (31 of 46) from the floor during that span.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. New York has beaten the Wizards seven straight times, including a three-point win in Washington last month.
2. The Wizards will be seeking back-to-back victories for the first time this season.